The President of the Republic enacted this Friday the decree that regulates the extension of the state of emergency and two other Government diplomas with exceptional measures applied to the purchase of medical equipment and the tourism sector.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also promulgated two diplomas from the Assembly of the Republic, originating from Government law proposals, which establish exceptional and temporary regimes of budgetary and postal notification processes in the current Covid-19 pandemic situation.
This information is contained in two notes published on the website of the Presidency of the Republic on the Internet.
The three Government diplomas were approved by the Council of Ministers and the two from the Assembly of the Republic also went this Friday to the Palace of Belém and were promulgated on the same day.
Communiqué of the Council of Ministers of April 17, 2020
The Council of Ministers approved today, electronically, the decree that regulates the extension of the state of emergency decreed by the President of the Republic, making adjustments to the measures already approved and adopting other measures that are considered necessary, among which:
- The participation in activities related to the official celebrations of May 1st, only by observing the recommendations of the health authorities, namely in terms of social distance, and through coordination between the security forces and the social partners;
- The suspension of the mandatory publication in the Labour and Employment Bulletin of legislative acts to be approved by the Government under the terms of the labour legislation, promoting direct consultation of the social partners, through electronic means, with a deadline for pronouncement of 24 hours;
- The removal of the health cordon to the municipality of Ovar, by applying, however, special limitations in the municipality of Ovar, including specific duties of compliance with hygiene and safety rules by industrial, commercial and business services establishments authorized to operate and located in this municipality.
The Council of Ministers also approved a new set of extraordinary measures to respond to the epidemiological situation of the new Coronavirus – COVID-19, namely:
- Decree-law that establishes exceptional and temporary measures seeking to respond to the constraints caused by the current pandemic in the tourism sector.
Following the measures already approved for this sector, the present diploma improves on the travel of finalists (students celebrating final year of study) and defines a specific regime directed at trips organized by travel and tourism agencies, the cancellation of reservations in tourist developments and accommodation establishments, and the relationship between travel and tourism agencies, tour operators and tourism enterprises and local accommodation establishments.
- Decree-law that establishes an exceptional and temporary regime for the financial rebalancing of long-term contracts, namely public-private partnerships.
During the state of emergency, contractual clauses and legislative provisions that provide for the right to contractual rebalancing with any contract to which the State or another public entity is a party are suspended, including public-private partnerships.
Outside the period of the state of emergency, in contracts that expressly provide for the private contractor’s right to be compensated for breaks in use or the occurrence of a pandemic as a basis that could give rise to a claim to restore the financial balance, these can only be carried out by extending the term for the performance of the services or the term of the contract.
- Decree-Law establishing exceptional and temporary measures related to the COVID-19 disease pandemic, namely:
– The extension of the reception period for victims of domestic violence, either in shelters or in emergency reception responses from the National Victim Support Network.
– The establishment, in addition to the exceptional contracting measures already approved, of an exceptional simplified regime of direct adjustment for the conclusion of contracts whose object is the acquisition of equipment, goods and services necessary for the prevention, containment, mitigation and treatment of infection by SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 disease.
- Expenses related to the following procedures were also authorized:
- Acquisition of vaccines for the National Vaccination Plan, hygiene and cleaning services and surveillance and security services, by the Regional Health Administrations of Lisbon and Vale do Tejo, in the North and Center;
- Contract signature for the management and provision of health care at the Cascais Hospital.